Monday, 15 April 2019

Senior US Democrat Nancy Pelosi has met with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying they discussed issues including Brexit and antisemitism.The speaker of the House of Representatives said she had a “candid” discussion with the opposition leader on Sunday at the beginning of her trip to the UK and Ireland.“Pleased to have had a candid discussion with [Jeremy Corbyn] today about the direction of Brexit, Northern Ireland, Nato, acting boldly on climate, protecting human rights, and the necessity of forcefully confronting anti-Semitism & Islamophobia,” Ms Pelosi wrote on Twitter.Mr Corbyn described the meeting as “open and wide ranging”.“We discussed the need to protect the Good Friday Agreement, take action on inequality and the climate crisis, confront racism and promote peace,” the Labour leader said on Twitter.Although Ms Pelosi specifically mentioned antisemitism in her post, the Labour leader did not do so in his.The Labour Party has struggled with reports of antisemitism among members over the last few years.A spokesperson for Labour told The Independent the meeting had been arranged for “a short while”.Ms Pelosi, whose visit to the UK and Ireland is primarily focused on Brexit, also met with defected Labour MPs from the newly formed party Change UK.The 79-year-old said she had an “important discussion” with the politicians, who have been critical of Mr Corbyn, about why they left Labour.“Important discussion with former Labour Party MPs [Mike Gapes], [Chris Leslie], [Ian Austin] to hear their perspective on Brexit, why they left the Labour Party, and the importance of standing unequivocally against antisemitism wherever it is found,” she said.All three MPs posted on social media about the meeting and referred to the issue of antisemitism.Owen Jones, the British political commentator and activist, accused Ms Pelosi of mocking the Labour Party by meeting with its former MPs.“The British Labour Party is being openly trolled by a US establishment hack who won’t even defend [Ilhan Omar] as she is savaged by a racist President and his Muslim hating allies,” he said.Ms Omar, a Muslim Democratic congresswoman, made a speech last month about Islamophobia in the US after 9/11.She is currently being criticised by right-wing US politicians, including Donald Trump, for her comments.On Saturday Ms Pelosi said she had taken steps to ensure the congresswoman’s safety after Mr Trump retweeted a video attacking the Minnesota representative.She will meet with government ministers on Monday as she continues her UK visit.